Stream

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ATTENTION! Please read the "About this community" rules to the right. All posts must relate directly to helping freelance writers be more successful. This community is NOT the place to share your latest poem, or what you've written about kittens, fashion, computer games, or anything else not specifically about helping freelance writers be more successful. Finally, all posts need to be in English. ﻿

Hello everyone, I am a freelance writer in Ohio. I have one book currently self published of a three book series that I am working on. I would love to hear more from other freelance writers like me so I can learn and grow from it. ﻿

I like reading monthly recaps that delve into peoples’ lives, don’t you? There’s something enticing about seeing how others live, so imma indulge you guys in this from now on… Lucky you! Instead of just an “I did this, this, this, this, and this” type post each month, I’m going to cover my life as [...] Read more...

The most important part of being a freelance writer is having a strategy. You have to have an idea of how you will approach the client. The first thing you have to figure out when you bid on a job is...

About this community

Welcome to the Freelance Writing community!
This community’s mission is to help freelance writers be more successful. We welcome all freelance writers, from beginners to experts.
The Ground Rules
1. All posts must pertain to the mission of the community.
2. Understand our definition of freelance writer: an independent contractor who seeks paying work writing nonfiction for a business or nonprofit.
3. No posts about poetry or fiction or book writing/publishing. There are plenty of other communities for that.
4. You can link to your own posts, but be sure you provide solid explanation of what the post is about and indicate why it is relevant to freelance writers. Any posts that are not relevant to helping freelance writers create a successful business will be removed from the community.
5. Job postings can only be for gigs that earn freelance writers at least $10 per hour. Yes, that may occasionally include content mills, but we encourage all freelance writers to leave content mills and other low-paying clients and move on to high-paying clients.
6. Debate and exploration of different views is encouraged, but always be polite and respectful.

Freelance writers are always told that we need to choose a niche to focus our efforts.

It's some great advice which really helps speed the process of building a reputation and expertise within an area. But choosing an industry to specialise in is really only half the battle.

There are plenty of writers out there who earn a good living by focusing on a particular type of writing. You've got the freelance bloggers who can earn a good living, white paper writers who charge $4000 - $6000 per deliverable and the press release writers who earn themselves a good $ to word rate.

If you really want to build expertise you also need to choose a type of writing to focus on.

Here's a list fo 15 different writing specialities for you to explore.

I was wondering if I could get some advise on this charecter I thought up for my story.

His name is Alex and he's mute. But knows sign language and I was wondering what would be the best way to write his dialogue with out writing "he signed" every time he wants to say anything. Any ideas?﻿

Experienced freelance writers often find it difficult to understand how difficult and scary this can be for beginner freelance writers.

With over 5 years of experience as a freelance writer and blogger, recognition from top publications and magazines, and having written for some of the biggest blogs online, it is very easy for me to say “okay, do this to get X result“.

Things aren’t as simple for beginner freelance writers though and I could very well, unknowingly, be suffering from the curse of knowledge.

However, what if I’m a completely new freelance writer – with no experience, no connections and no reputation – exactly how will I give myself a quick boost?

Book publicist, Scott Lorenz, gives his expert opinion on the best methods to grab the attention of readers with just a few, simple words. "The best book titles use as few words as possible," he says. Read more in his latest column for After the Manuscript here.

I added a very helpful freebie to my "How to become a freelancer post". When you download the PDF, you will get a look inside my inbox at five cover letters that nailed me a contract along with a perfect cover letter template. http://www.taylormanningcreative.com/become-a-freelancer/﻿

They imagine they’ll post about whatever strikes their fancy each day, and readers will magically appear. Next, those readers will spend thousands buying your products or services. Even if you have no idea what those items might be.

And you’ll be rich!

It seldom works out this way.

Why? Most bloggers neglect to do a few important things that lay the groundwork for a high-earning blog. In essence, they’re hoping the luck fairy will wave her wand, and — presto! — they’ll be pulling in six figures from their blog.

Most have only a dim idea how the money-earning side of blogging works. I know, because many write me proudly proclaiming their plan to slap up some AdSense ads and cash in. But ads only work on sites with huge traffic, which few new bloggers have.

In sum, the big problem is that you don’t treat your blog like a business. So it doesn’t become one.

How can you set up your blog for financial success? Here are three major business mistakes new bloggers make that leave their blogs floundering instead of earning: